Boom: Box truck bashes Bowker

Storrowing Week continues with a driver who wedged his box truck into the Bowker Overpass at the Fenway exits on Storrow outbound this morning. State Police report they had to shut the right lane at Fenway exits to get the thing out. Eye-in-the-sky video of the non-motile truck.

Comments

We need sacrificial I-beams (I for idiot!) to stop trucks before they managed to get to a bad spot that clogs up traffic.

Add a hefty fine for hitting the beams for good measure that funds transit improvements (like a Storrow Drive tunnel, Red/Blue Connector, Blue Line extension to Kenmore down the D to Riverside, more accessible pedestrian bridges, bike/pedestrian path underpasses at the river crossings etc to the west, etc.)

that's placed on secondary streets and approach roadways far enough in advance of the entrances to Storrow Drive so drivers have proper advance notice in time to consider and use adequate alternate routes.

Placing signs that are visible only AFTER a driver has committed to entering Storrow Drive is a large part of the problem. Placing Low Clearance signs that don't state the actual clearance is part of the problem. Placing hanging rubber bumpers with colors that bear no relationship to any real traffic signs is part of the problem.

Fixing these problems is easy and relatively inexpensive. It's also unlikely to happen as long as the DCR, who continues to assert that Storrow Drive is a recreational parkway and should be exempt from the signing rules and standards MassDOT and others are required to follow, is allowed to continue to maintain control of the road.

Experience everywhere else in the world strongly suggests that no amount, quality, or location of signage will meaningfully reduce the rate of Storrowing. The vast majority of overheight vehicle drivers, even amateurs, already know to avoid Storrow. The problems we see today are due to a smaller number of unusually dense drivers, and there's no reason to think the "inexpensive" changes you suggest would get through to them.